SEC complaint hints at why Brian Brooks resigned as Binance.US CEO

The latest SEC complaint against Binance may indicate that ex-Binance. US CEO Brian Brooks has decided to step down in August 2021, just three months after his appointment.

According to a June 5 tweet by crypto attorney James Murphy — better known on Twitter as MetalLawman — the SEC complaint cites an “unnamed source” who briefly ran Binance.US in 2021. CEO of Binance.US.

1/Complaint against SEC @Binance It appears to have solved the mystery of why Brian Brooks suddenly resigned as CEO @BinanceUS In 2021.

CZ reportedly reneged on promises that Brooks would be given autonomy to run at liberty @Binance,

— MetalLawMan (@MetaLawMan) June 5, 2023

Brooks, a former top banking regulator, will lead operations at the crypto exchange after replacing former CEO Catherine Coley on May 1, 2021. According to comments cited in the complaint, Brooks quickly realized that he “wasn’t really going to run this company.” Upon recognizing this, he decided to quit and announced his resignation three months later on 7 August.

Although Patrick Hillman, chief communications officer of Binance, pushed Murphy backs off on speculation, saying that it “could be one person’s statement” and that it “may not stand the test of time.”

Cointelegraph reached out to Binance.US and Brian Brooks for comment, but has not yet received a response.

The information comes in the wake of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission pressing a total of 13 charges against Binance for allegedly failing to register as a securities exchange and operating illegally in the US.

Through Thirteen Charges, we allege that Zhao and the Binance Entities engaged in a widespread web of fraud, conflict of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law. https://t.co/E06hVOaYby

— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) June 5, 2023

The news wreaked havoc on the price of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), which are down 5.6% and 4.3%, respectively, over the past 24 hours, according to data from the Cointelegraph Price Index.

Shares of publicly traded crypto companies in the US also saw a sharp decline in price, with Coinbase (COIN) down 9% during market trading hours on June 5.

Coinbase Next?

Mark Palmer, senior equity research analyst at Berenberg Capital, told Cointelegraph that the lawsuit “echoes” many of the details it previously filed against US-based crypto exchanges Bittrex and Kraken.

Connected: SEC’s Binance Suit Has Heavy Mixture of Anticipated Fees, Novel Revelations

Therefore, Palmer believes that “overall these cases represent a preview of actions to be filed against Coinbase.”

Palmer said Coinbase investors should look at whether the exchange has the ability to “successfully pivot” its business model and geographic focus if it has to consider closing a large portion of its operations to the US as a result of the SEC. Forced to “cut back or close”. enforcement.

“We estimate that at least 37% of COIN’s net revenue would be at risk if the SEC targets the company’s crypto token trading and staking operations.

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